Micro-Financing the Unbanked on the blockchain
Billions of people lack access to financial and telco services, in fact, the poorer you are the more you pay for these services. In emerging markets, smartphones are usually the only way users have access to digital services, considering it is far cheaper than laptops or computers. The smartphone and the local carriers work as a financial system for low-income prepaid subscribers who use Airtime as a currency for data, minutes, remittances, groceries, utilities etc. Mobile capital access, however, is still far from affordable. At AirFox, we believe that our AirToken blockchain and its decentralized, peer-to-peer nature will help create a new more efficient system for micro-financing the underserved— A Lending Club meets M-Pesa on the blockchain.
The AirToken blockchain will allow peer-to-peer lending in AirTokens at more affordable rates using the mobile data and airtime ecosystems that already exist in these markets. Additionally, the overhead involved with traditional lending caused by inefficient intermediaries and government regulation is eliminated by using the blockchain to match lenders with borrowers at transparent terms and reduces the transfer fees involved. Using AirFox’s Android application, thousands of quantifiable data points can be tracked and analyzed to create accurate “credit scores”. These credit scores will segment users into tranches, allowing lenders to provide micro-loans in AirTokens through an Ethereum smart-contract. The AirToken system provides greater access to capital at cheaper rates, expands access to mobile capital through pre-paid wireless accounts, and improves the lives of under-served lower socioeconomic classes. Imagine, someone holding $100,000 in AirTokens could apply to be a leader in the platform and sponsor $10 USD of mobile access to 10,000 pre-paid subscribers in Brazil in seconds. We are excited to bring micro-financing and mobile access to the billions. Earlier this year I shared how blockchain would unlock capital for emerging market economies, now I am excited to bring the AirToken into existence as one of the first companies to unlock capital access via the blockchain.
Founded by Ex-Googlers Victor Santos and Sara Choi and incubated at Harvard’s Innovation Launch Lab, AirFox is a TechStars Boston alumni and venture backed by Project 11, Launch Capital, and NXT Ventures, among others.
Reach me @ victorsantos.com
